How long should patients be followed-up after total hip replacement? Current practice in the UK.

Some 1000 postcard questionnaires were sent to Fellows of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) to establish current follow-up practice of primary total hip replacement (THR) patients. For cemented THRs, 50% of surgeons saw their patients for under 1 year, 78% under 5 years with indefinite follow-up being performed by 14%. There was significantly more follow-up of uncemented and hybrid prostheses with the proportions being 25%, 56% and 30% respectively (chi 2, P < 0.0001). This study has revealed a wide variation in practice between individual surgeons and has shown over one-third of surgeons feel they are prevented from performing as much follow-up as they would wish by the availability of clinic resources. Higher follow-up rates of uncemented components may reflect a lack of confidence in their long-term performance.